Staged DUI accident opens eyes to potential dangers

Around twelve service vehicles stormed into Western Illinois University’s Q-lot to aid in DUI demonstration for high school- and college-level students on Monday.

A volunteer spread out on the ground in front of two crumpled cars set the stage for the set aimed at informing students about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Marking the 23rd anniversary for the event, Dave Mitchell, special projects manager for Western Illinois University Emergency Medical Services, said the last couple years were hindered by weather.

“The past two years we’ve had inclement weather,” Mitchell said. “This is the first year that I’ve been here that we’ve had good weather, we’ve been able to have Macomb High out and fill the whole grandstand.”

After a short announcement of the program, WIU public safety officers arrived on the scene with WIU EMS. Soon, city and state police arrived on scene with McDonough District Hospital ambulances and the fire department.

Firefighters cut into one vehicle to free one of the “injured,” placing the survivors onto gurneys and rushing them off to receive medical help.

One passenger lay dead on the pavement. After a declaring the youth deceased, he was placed into a body bag and taken away. Soon after, the driver of the vehicle was given a field sobriety test and arrested.

Response to the event seemed positive, with students voicing that they had learned something from the event.

Cole Griffin, WIU student, said the event “really put things in perspective,” and that the response time was faster than he had thought.

Madison Wright, a student at Macomb High School, said she felt like the display was close to what one might see at the scene of a DUI accident.

“It opened my eyes,” Wright said. “Watching how everybody was actually going through the procedure, I didn’t see anybody just standing around and not doing anything.”

Following the mock DUI, the Illinois State Police used a rollover simulator to demonstrate the danger of not wearing a seatbelt.

Macomb Mayor Mike Inman, who formerly served with the state police, said that he felt the demonstration does a good job of putting driving under the influence during a particularly popular time for parties and celebrations.

“A lot of celebratory activity takes place at this time of year, whether you’re old enough to drink alcohol or not,” Inman said. “I want to underscore the importance, the significance of being sober when you’re driving. I think this event definitely underscores that.”

According to a news release, the state of Illinois saw 326 traffic fatalities caused by drunk driving and more than 4,100 arrests for impaired driving in 2012.

Page 2 of 2 - Nick Draper can be reached via email at ndraper@McDonoughVoice.com, or follow him on Twitter @nick_draper.